Airlink does not fly to or from the United States. Anyone searching for the Airlink baggage allowance is almost always a US traveler. You are connecting onto this South African regional carrier after a long haul flight into Johannesburg.
Your final stop is a safari lodge, Cape Town, or Durban.
The numbers below come straight from Airlink’s own baggage policy, not a leftover from South African Airways.
Airlink is not South African Airways anymore
Airlink flew for 23 years under a franchise deal with South African Airways. It wore SAA colors and used an SAA style code. That arrangement ended in 2020 when SAA entered business rescue.
Airlink rebranded and repositioned itself as a fully independent carrier under its own 4Z code. It now sets its own weight limits and fees. Any older figure quoting SAA’s numbers for this route no longer applies.
How the Airlink baggage allowance breaks down by class
Cabin baggage is one piece in Economy. Business gets two pieces, plus a slimline laptop bag in either class. That sits on top of the general carry-on size rules most US travelers already know.
Each cabin piece is capped at 56 by 36 by 23 centimeters. That is about 22 by 14 by 9 inches. The weight limit is 8 kilograms, roughly 17.6 pounds.
Checked baggage runs on a straight weight allowance instead of a bag count. A single checked piece tops out at 90 by 72 by 45 centimeters, about 35 by 28 by 18 inches. Weight caps out at 32 kilograms per piece.
| Class | Cabin baggage | Checked baggage |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | 1 piece, 8 kg max, plus laptop bag | 20 kg |
| Business | 2 pieces, 8 kg max each, plus laptop bag | 30 kg |
Where the Airlink baggage allowance jumps higher
Flying between South Africa and Harare, Bulawayo, Lusaka, or Ndola raises the checked allowance. Economy climbs to 30 kilograms and Business to 40. Fly Durban to Harare directly, though, and it drops back to the standard 20 and 30 kilogram tiers.
Safari travelers should watch for Lodge Link flights out of Nelspruit or Skukuza. These use small aircraft, and only one soft sided bag up to 8 kilograms is allowed. No excess baggage is accepted at any price, so pack accordingly before you leave your main hotel.
Connecting from a US flight: do you keep the bigger allowance
Airlink applies what it calls a Most Significant Carrier policy on interline tickets booked as one continuous journey. Suppose your bags are through checked with no overnight stopover. Then the allowance of the first international carrier on your itinerary generally carries through onto the Airlink segment.
That first carrier is often the operator running United’s nonstop route to Johannesburg or a similar long haul airline.
Book the Airlink leg as a separate ticket, and each segment’s own allowance applies on its own. That usually means the lower Airlink limit takes over the moment you land in Johannesburg. Confirm your ticket type before you pack for the long haul flight.
What travelers actually run into at the gate
Forum accounts describe Airlink rarely weighing cabin bags at check-in, despite the posted 8 kilogram limit. The real constraint is overhead bin space instead. Airlink flies Embraer E190 and ERJ145 jets, and bins get tight on a full flight no matter what your bag weighs.
Gate agents commonly collect oversized cabin bags at the aircraft steps. They hand the bags back at the door on arrival, skipping the usual checked bag pickup entirely. Travelers describe this as a minor convenience, not a punishment.
Excess baggage fees
Airlink charges by the kilogram rather than by the bag for anything over your allowance. On South African domestic sectors the published rate is 33 South African rand per kilogram, plus 15 percent VAT. Regional routes into neighboring countries carry their own separate per kilogram rates.
These rates move over time. Run your route through a baggage fee calculator before you assume last year’s number still holds. Airlink’s own baggage page confirms the current rate for your exact route.
Packing around the tight allowance
Lodge Link segments and some regional routes cap you at 20 kilograms with zero excess allowed. Pack your safari and beach items separately from anything you only need in Johannesburg or Cape Town. A short guide to packing light for a multi city trip pays off more on this airline than on most.
The bottom line
The Airlink baggage allowance is unusually simple once you know it. Expect 8 kilograms in the cabin, 20 or 30 kilograms checked depending on class, and a per kilogram charge for anything above that.
The one detail worth double checking before you fly is your ticket construction. It decides whether you keep a bigger allowance from your US connecting flight. That call sits with your ticket, not with Airlink’s gate staff.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one, Carry On Sizes may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend. How this works.
More airlines in Africa
See every carrier in the Africa index.